Claim After Art Lost In Storage

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31236, 7 December 1966, Page 3

Claim After Art Lost In Storage

(New Zealand Press Association)

DUNEDIN, December 6.

The disappearance from storage or in transit between Dunedin and Auckland of a number of items of fine art, including two Hoyte paintings, was the basis of a claim for £537 against Crust and Crust, carriers, heard today by Mr T. A. Ross, S.M.

The Magistrate reserved his decision.

The Magistrate told counsel before they had made their final submissions that he accepted that the missing water-colours, wool pictures and old prints had been among the items removed by the carry ing company.

The plaintiff was Mrs Margaret Cowan Thomson, of Auckland, formerly Miss Dunlop, of Musselburgh rise, Dunedin.

Mr W. D. S. Armitage appeared for Mrs Thomson and Mr E. J. Anderson for the company. Mrs Thomson claimed that certain valuable items were missing between the time the company removed her furniture from her home in Musselburgh in November, 1961, and its subsequent arrival in Auckland in September, 1965, after storage at the defendant company’s premises. The company denied all knowledge of the items reported missing, and claimed that in any case Mrs Thomson had entered into a written contract by which the company would not be liable for loss or damage to any article in excess of £lO.

Sold Home Mrs Thomson said in evidence that after selling her Musselburgh Rise home she wanted some possessions stored, some shipped to Palmerston North, some sent to a saleroom and some left for the new owner.

Before engaging Crust and Crust, Mrs Thomson pointed out the pictures to a member of the company, voicing concern for their proper storage. She was assured that every care would be taken, and that no special precautions were necessary.

Three men removed the goods on November 16. Mrs Thomson received no receipt from Crust and Crust until December, 1962, when she was presented with a list of packages. She was allowed access to Crust and Crust’s store to look at her furniture and some carpets which had been drycleaned and sent for storage later. She was concerned that no pictures were mentioned in the list, but was assured that these would have been packed among other furniture.

Mrs Thomson married and moved to Auckland to live, sending for her stored things in May, 1965. Some of the newspapers used by Crust and Crust for wrapping were dated some months after the goods were sent for storage. This indicated that the items

had been left loose In the store, she said. The managing director of Joseph Abernethy, Ltd., Daniel Moir, said that although he had not seen Mrs Thomson’s Hoyte paintings, on current values they would be worth £l5O to £250 or more. The market for Hoyte paintings was still rising. The Hoyte painting, “Mitre Peak,” in a gold frame, described as being signed and dated 1874, measuring 30in by 20in, would be very reasonably priced at £250. Mr Moir put a similar value on a Hoyte, 30in by 26in, a New Zealand scene of river bush and mountain.

Eight other works he valued at a total of £BO.

Defence Case

In opening the defence case, Mr Anderson said there had been no inventory, no declaration and no evidence of special values in the items stored . He submitted that the storage contract came under the limitation of £lO a package. The maximum amount for which the company could be liable was £ll3.

A former executive of Crust and Crust, John McConachie, said the first instruction to the company was to prepare the goods for transit. They were then transferred for ■storage on instructions from Miss Dunlop. The company had written to more than 100 people in all parts of the world to try to trace the missing items. To Mr Armitage, Mr McConachie said he would have considered the pictures separate items. He agreed that he told Mrs Thomson when she first inquired about her pictures that they were probably packed with mattresses. Richard James Stott, assistant manager of the South British Insurance Company, said that in March, 1961, Miss Dunlop had insured the contents of her Musselburgh Rise house for £lBOO. No reference had been made to pictures, although she had taken out £3OO worth of insurance covering such special items as jewellery and a handbag. Miss Dunlop had insured household furniture stored at Crust and Crust for a total of £7OO. No mention had been made of paintings.